Access Fund still owns Golden Cliffs property; soon to be transferred to Jefferson County MORE INFO >>>

Stay tuned for an announcement of the transfer to the County, as well as an upcoming celebration at Golden Cliffs to commemorate the legacy of Mayford Peery, who donated the cliffs to the Access Fund in 1994. The event will celebrate 20 years of Access Fund ownership and officially present Golden Cliffs to Jefferson County Open Space.

Description

30 feet right of Ken Trout's route, Mr Squirrel Places a Nut, is a blunt arete flanked by two unappealing trad corners. The arete is Handle This Hard On - and a much beter route than the name would suggest. For a moderate 5.12, Handle is good problem because it delivers the crux right at the first bolt and backs off from there. The route will keep your attention, however, right to the end since it has several additional 5.11 cruxes on the way. The biggest challenge of Handle This seems to be in resisting the urge to dodge left, off the arete, to sneak back for the second clip. For working out the solution this is not bad dodge since it will set up a top rope for the crux. The real point seems to be in staying put on the little nothings for hands and feet until just above the second clip where a nice horrizontal jug awaits. I thought this was a very tricky and technical problem that was well worth sussing out the beta. I have not been able to locate any FA data for this line, which is unfortunate because it is one of the better routes on NTM.

I thought around the third clip was the crux and the second clip was just spicy. I have a solid right hand on the arete so I have to clip across my body on bad feet. One of my favorite routes at NT, and it has some really cool footwork on it.